Consistent efforts have been made to legalize sports betting in South Carolina, but those efforts have yet to produce any results. On the bright side, attempts to pass a sports betting bill in the Palmetto State don’t look to be slowing down anytime soon.
Is online sports betting legal in South Carolina? | No |
Is in-person sports betting legal? | No |
Is daily fantasy sports legal? | Yes |
Is betting on college sports legal? | No |
Is horse racing betting legal? | No |
Is greyhound betting legal? | No |
Is political betting legal? | No |
Is eSports betting legal? | No |
If South Carolina residents or tourists want to do something remotely similar to sports betting, they have only one option: daily fantasy sports apps. DFS products are neither legal nor illegal in the state, so they operate in a gray area that allows them to be unregulated and provide customers in SC with contests.
Two of the biggest DFS apps on the market, PrizePicks and Underdog, are available for download on iOS and Android devices in the Palmetto State. However, the buck ends at DFS products regarding gambling-related products. Betting on horse racing is also illegal in the state, so online racebooks like TVG aren’t available.
Motivation is a critical factor in getting a sports betting bill passed, and lawmakers in South Carolina certainly seem motivated. While sports betting remains illegal in the Palmetto State along with all other forms of gambling, SC has seen a sports betting bill be introduced every year since PASPA was overturned in 2018.
At times, other states that have attempted to legalize sports betting have run into the issue of the House disagreeing with the Senate on the matter or vice versa. Still, there are members of both parties who have supported the legalization.
In 2022, HB 5277 had bipartisan support, yet it became another bill or resolution that has died in committee since 2019. The following year, Rep. Chris Murphy introduced and sponsored HB 3749. This bill would allow eight operators to enter the market and set the minimum gambling age in the state at 18. Currently, the bill is waiting to be reviewed by the House Ways and Means Committee.
This committee has a laundry list of bills pending review, so the timeline for discussing HB 3749 remains uncertain.
Of course, it does not help that the man at the top of the state’s government, Gov. Henry McCaster, is against the idea of legalized gambling in the state. He claims it is against the state’s values. Even with this opposition, lawmakers in the state, like Rep. Chris Murphy, seem to remain optimistic.
One of the most challenging hurdles for lawmakers in support of legalized gambling to jump over is the fact that South Carolina does not already have an expansive gambling landscape established. With no retail casinos in SC or even a state lottery, lawmakers must create a governing body to hand out the eight licenses they discussed in HB 3749.
Aside from the fact that having no retail betting locations limits sports betting to just mobile betting apps, it also means that iGaming is unlikely to join the legal gambling landscape in SC. If iGaming is not something that could be added to the current sports betting bill being discussed, it could be quite a while before residents can access online casinos and poker.
Are online casinos legal in South Carolina? | No |
Are retail casinos legal? | No |
Are social sportsbooks legal? | Yes |
Are sweepstakes/social casinos legal? | Yes |
Is online poker legal? | No |
Is the lottery legal? | No |
The launch date of sports betting in South Carolina? | TBD |
How many legal sports betting apps are there in SC? | 0 |
How many legal retail betting sites are there in SC? | 0 |
Is remote registration allowed? | No |
Legal age for sports betting in South Carolina? | Sports betting is illegal / gambling: 21+ |
South Carolina's tax rate for betting/gambling winnings | - |
Who regulates sports betting in South Carolina? | - |
October 8, 2024: With four straight wins under their belt, the Clemson Tigers will have another road game this weekend against Wake Forest. The Tigers are currently (-20.5) point favorites.
October 4, 2024: Searching for their fourth straight win, the Clemson Tigers will head on the road to Florida State, where they are favored by (-15).
October 2, 2024: Looking to hand Ole Miss their second straight loss, the South Carolina Gamecocks will host the Rebels as (+9.5) point underdogs.
September 27, 2024: While the South Carolina Gamecocks have off this weekend, South Carolina State will play in an FCS matchup with North Carolina A&T. South Carolina State is listed as a (-1.5) point favorite.
September 24, 2024: Coming off a blowout win in their first ACC conference game, the Clemson Tigers will host Stanford as (-21.5) point favorites.
September 18, 2024: Fresh off their bye week, the Clemson Tigers will play their first ACC game of the season as they are set to host NC State as (-20.5) point favorites.
September 11, 2024: With their first big SEC win in the books, the South Carolina Gamecocks are now set to host LSU where they are (+7) point home underdogs.
September 3, 2024: After losing 34-3 to Georgia and failing to cover as underdogs, the Clemson Tigers will host Appalachian State in week two, where they are (-18) point favorites.
August 29, 2024: The Clemson Tigers will start their college football season with a ranked matchup against the University of Georgia. The Tigers are currently (+13.5) point underdogs.
Even if sports betting were legalized tomorrow in South Carolina, there would be no places for customers to place retail wagers. The Palmetto State does not house any commercial or tribal casinos, which means the closest retail betting facility for SC residents is actually in North Carolina.
Based on a few proposed sports betting bills, lawmakers seem to focus more on legalizing mobile betting. This could mean that even if a bill does get passed, the state may decide to keep it strictly mobile and ignore the idea of building commercial casinos to house sportsbooks.
Much like South Carolina, sports betting in Georgia remains illegal despite countless bills on the topic being introduced during legislative sessions. This leaves North Carolina as the lone surrounding state that South Carolina residents can travel to and find legal sports wagering.
To find out more about why Georgia still doesn't have a sports betting bill or what betting options are available in North Carolina, you can click on the state name in the box underneath this section.
State | Online sports betting | Retail sports betting | DFS | Horse Race betting |
---|---|---|---|---|
North Carolina | Legal | Legal | Legal | Legal |
Georgia | Illegal | Illegal | Legal | Illegal |
Every year since 2019, South Carolina has introduced at least one sports betting bill, and that trend is likely to continue in 2024. Support for each bill seems to be growing, but getting it passed by the committee has remained the biggest obstacle.
Each of these bills does seem to include the legalization of mobile sports betting, so if one can make it past the committee and gets signed into law, then brand name operators like DraftKings and FanDuel should be able to apply for a license shortly afterward.
Until South Carolina passes a sports betting bill, we will have no information regarding the state's handle, revenue, and tax income. Most states without legal sports betting have, at the very least, created a gambling research committee that studies how profitable the state could be with sports betting. South Carolina did attempt to form one of these groups in 2019 through SJR 71, but this resolution died after it was read for the first time in committee.
With no government-backed group to delve into the research and create studies, it is hard even to assume how the state would do in terms of sports betting revenue on a consistent basis. One could compare how other surrounding states with legal sports betting have done. Still, the accuracy of those comparisons is not very high since South Carolina’s betting market could be drastically different.
However, for the sake of this article, we will compare South Carolina to the closest state in terms of the estimated population that offers legal sports betting, Colorado. It did not take long for CO to pass a gambling bill, and they have since welcomed a wide range of operators, leading to them making over $16 billion in handle and $1.14 billion in revenue since legalizing the market.
No, the Palmetto State does not have legal sports betting. While lawmakers have continued to try to pass a sports betting bill, that day has not yet come. DFS is, however, legal, so it is the closest betting-related option available to sports fans.
According to Rep. Chris Murphy, legalizing sports betting in South Carolina could generate $23 million in tax revenue annually.
The love for college football runs deep in South Carolina. Two of the biggest programs in the country, Clemson and South Carolina, are who most fans are pulling for.
Back in 2018, an anonymous South Carolina resident claimed the $1.5 billion Mega Millions jackpot, which was the largest lottery payout in the history of the state.